BMO Capital Markets Cuts Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Price Target to $15.00

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its target price trimmed by BMO Capital Markets from $18.00 to $15.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the ride-sharing company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on LYFT. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lyft from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Lyft from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Lyft from $16.50 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective (down from $23.00) on shares of Lyft in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Lyft from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lyft has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.31.

Lyft Stock Down 7.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LYFT opened at $13.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $14.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.52. Lyft has a 12-month low of $8.93 and a 12-month high of $20.82.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The ride-sharing company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.10). Lyft had a negative return on equity of 1.58% and a negative net margin of 1.19%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lyft will post 0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lyft declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the ride-sharing company to reacquire up to 8.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lyft news, Director Logan Green sold 10,919 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total transaction of $188,352.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 314,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,424,987. This trade represents a 3.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lyft

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LYFT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lyft by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,002,611 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $464,434,000 after purchasing an additional 984,907 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Lyft by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 18,052,879 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock worth $230,174,000 after buying an additional 80,675 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lyft by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,408,466 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $121,369,000 after buying an additional 2,302,248 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lyft by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 8,114,166 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $103,456,000 after buying an additional 1,735,208 shares during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in shares of Lyft by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,491,590 shares of the ride-sharing company’s stock valued at $82,768,000 after buying an additional 235,510 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Lyft

Lyft, Inc operates a peer-to-peer marketplace for on-demand ridesharing in the United States and Canada. It operates multimodal transportation networks that offer access to various transportation options through the Lyft platform and mobile-based applications. The company's platform provides a ridesharing marketplace, which connects drivers with riders; Express Drive, a car rental program for drivers; and a network of shared bikes and scooters in various cities to address the needs of riders for short trips.